Greetings and welcome to another edition of should you 100%? Today, we’ll be taking a look at one of my favorite games of all time, “Metro Exodus,” a review of which is available for you to check out here on our site. If you know me, then you know how much I love this game. This game is straight-up incredible and tells the story of a group of people surviving in a post-apocalyptic, war-torn rendition of Russia. Penned by author Dmitry Glukhovsky, the Metro books were best-sellers and are some of the finest post-apocalyptic books that are available for you to read out there. Although the books have nothing to do with the games, they do share the same universe and some of the same characters, and the premise for the game itself was also written by Dmitry himself. It goes without saying that the Story here is fantastic and memorable, but we are not here to talk about how the game is (it’s awesome, by the way); we are here to talk about the achievements, so let’s do just that.
The Game
“Metro Exodus” is a first-person narrative shooter, which for the first time in the series, takes place across open-world areas that the player is free to explore. You play as Artyom here, a spartan ranger from the depths of the Moscow underground Metro who, along with a group of other spartan rangers (the people he calls family), ventures out into the wasteland aboard a train called Aurora to find a new home. There’s a ton of Story and exposition here that explains everything in detail that you can discover if you play the game which you definitely should. The game will take you from location to location across Russia, which you’ll explore and help progress the Story to get to the end. The shooting here is good, and everything else surrounding the game—from the narrative to the visuals to the sound design and everything in between—is just plain fantastic. With that out of the way, let’s take a look at the game’s achievements.
The Achievements Structure
The base game contains 49 achievements, and then there are two DLC packs that add 19 more, bringing the total up to 68. Here’s a cool thing: none of the achievements in this game are particularly hard, and almost everything can be done in a single playthrough, so this article will be structured a bit differently than the others. You’ll still need to do two playthroughs, at least, maybe even three, to get the achievements for the two available endings and some other stuff, but overall, this game is pretty easy to complete for the most part.
The Organic Achievements
Technically, this is the section where the easy or story-related achievements belong, but at the same time, this game offers achievements for some really simple and basic things, so I reckon all of that will fit perfectly in one section right here. For starters, you have all the achievements related to completing the levels, so let me list them out really quickly. You’ll unlock “Exodus” for completing the Moscow level (the first level), then “Lower The Bridge,” which unlocks after completing the Volga level. “Spoiled Dinner” unlocks for completing the Yamantau level, and “New Order” for completing the Caspian level. Finally, you have “Sword of Damocles” for completing the Taiga level, and based on whether you get the good ending, you’ll unlock “Your Destination,” and if you get the bad ending, you’ll unlock “Eternal Voyage.” The good and bad endings are based on your actions throughout the game, so if you want the good ending, then don’t kill anyone unnecessarily, maintain a healthy relationship with people, and be less evil in general. On the other hand, if you want thr bad ending, then simply play the game as a gun-toting maniac and be an evil bastard towards everyone and everything. You’ll need to do both anyway to unlock both of the achievements, so plan accordingly. These have been the achievements you’ll unlock for just completing the levels, but there are more in between that are tied to the Story and will come organically, so let me jot them down really quickly as well. Once again, this will unlock naturally, so I won’t get into specifics and will just simply list them down.
“Aurora” will unlock the locomotive’s name. “Regatta” will unlock for getting into a boat. “Railwayman” will unlock for getting into the trolley. “Long Distance Passenger” for finding the passenger car and “Fisherman” for killing the catfish. “Righteous Vengeance” for killing 90 cannibals. “Driver” for driving the Bukhanka. “Complete Road Map” for finding the maps in the laboratory “Gor’ko!” for attending the wedding. Finally, “purification” for passing through the putrid tunnel. All of this stuff, in combination, will net you all the achievements tied to the Story of the game. As I mentioned, you’ll need to do two playthroughs to get the achievements tied to both of the endings, so this whole section will take you roughly 20 to 25 hours to be done with. There are more easy achievements that you will unlock without even realizing it, but I’ll list them down in some other section and not here.
The Missable Achievements
The game features missable achievements, so here’s a list of those. “Brakeman” will unlock for detaching all train cars in the Moscow level and is pretty easy to miss. “Friend of the Crew” will unlock during the Volga level if you can find the guitar and the teddy bear. “Duke” unlocks if Duke survives the Volga level. In order for him to survive, you’ll need to be a good guy throughout the level; if you turn evil there, he’ll die at the end of the level. “Roller Coaster” will unlock during the Caspian level and wants you to ride the bucket lift up to the Oasis; it’s pretty easy, obvious, and straightforward. “Carmaheddon” can also be unlocked in the Caspian level for running over enemies using the Bukhanka (the car). Just like the achievement for Duke, this one is called “Damir,” and it will unlock if Damir stays with your crew after the end of the Caspian level. The requirements are the same, so be a good person through this level in order to unlock this. “Master of the Forest,” asks you to stand your ground against the bear and will unlock during the Taiga level. Basically, you’ll come across a bear, and all you have to do is fight him and not run away; after you deal enough damage to the bear, it will run away, and the achievement will unlock. Once again, at the Taiga level, you can unlock the “5’o Clock” by attending the general’s tea party. Find his location, sit with him for a while, and listen to his Story. Now, we have “Aloysha,” which unlocks if Alyosha doesn’t get wounded at the end of the Taiga level. Same as Duke and Damir, be a good guy throughout the level, and he’ll be fine at the end. If all three of these men stay with you, then at the end, you’ll unlock “Full Strength,” which once again is for Duke surviving, Damir staying with your crew, and Alyosha not getting wounded. “Join Us On Air” will unlock for finding a tune on the radio aboard the Aurora, and “Decommunization” will unlock for destroying the biggest statue in front of the children’s camp in the Taiga level. Finally, you can unlock “Toy Seller” for finding three toys (the sun, fish, and teddy bear) during the New Game+ run of the campaign. The line between easy, missable, and miscellaneous achievements in this game is very thin, so it’s hard to classify them into categories as you may unlock missable achievements easily without even realizing it, or it may take you forever to get a miscellaneous achievement, and so on. These have been some of them so let’s move on to the next section.
Miscellaneous Achievements
The miscellaneous stuff, some of this is really easy and will come naturally while others ask you to get a tad creative so let’s list these down really quickly. “Professional” unlocks after getting a kill with every ranged weapon. “Antibiotic” for getting 300 mutant kills. “Stand Back” for getting 50 long-distance kills. “Silent Marksman” for getting 30 kills with the Tikhar. “Robin Hood” for getting 30 kills with the crossbow. “Headhunter” for getting 300 human kills. “Saboteur” for getting 50 melee kills. “Kaleidoscope” for getting three skills through a scope while wearing a gas mask and having night vision goggles on, and “Firebird” for killing a demon with fire. These have been all the kill-based achievements; in the same vein, you have achievements for crafting and collecting. The collectible ones are as follows: “Librarian” for finding 70 diary pages; “Old World Pictures” for finding 21 postcards; and “Dressed for Success” for finding all suit upgrades. Be thorough and explore every area, and these will be yours in no time. Finally, the ones related to crafting “Gunsmith” for installing a modification on each category of a gun. “Tidyman” for spending a total of 500 chemical resources on cleaning weapons. “Handyman” on spending a total of 500 resources on crafting items “Martian” for patching the gas mask, and “Last Breath” for crafting a filter in a hazardous zone while choking. That covers this section, so let’s move on to the hard achievements.
Some Hard Achievements
None of the achievements in this game are particularly hard, but these five will definitely challenge you a bit, so let’s take a look at them. “Hardcore” will unlock once you beat the game in Ranger Hardcore mode, the hardest difficulty available, and the way the game is meant to be played. The next one, titled “Forest Child,” is somewhat tricky, as it asks you to complete the entirety of the Taiga level without killing anyone or being seen. Be patient and save scum a lot. “Guide” asks you to complete the research facility section of the level Dead City without killing a single Blind One (giant gorilla); again, be patient and quiet. Finally, these last two were added with the ranger update and are self-explanatory but can be somewhat difficult depending on your approach. “Mutation” for completing the game in New Game+ with an active modifier, and “Iron Mode” for completing the game in Iron Mode, where if you die even once, it’s game over. I know some of these sound daunting, but they aren’t really that bad. Be patient, and you’ll unlock all of these achievements in no time. With them unlocked, you’ll have completed the base game and the Ranger Update achievements, which takes us to the DLC achievements.
The DLC Achievements
There are two DLC packs that were released with the game, titled “The Two Colonels” and “Sam’s Story.” Both of these packs are fantastic and must-plays like the base game and come with their own sets of achievements, so let’s take a look at those really quickly.
The Two Colonels adds eight achievements to the game, 4 of which are called “New Year,” “Duty and Conscience,” “Father and Son,” and “Real Colonel,” and will unlock for just beating the Story. The other four are also easy and are as follows: “The Whole Picture” asks you to find nine diary pages spread across the Story here. “Mind You, It’s Quite Heavy!” is to kill three Nosalis using the flamethrower’s melee attack. The next two are a tad hard, but again, nothing too difficult. “Dodge Master” unlocks once you successfully dodge all the attacks the Blind One throws at you (the final boss), and “It’s Just A Scratch” unlocks once you beat the entire Two Colonels chapter on Normal or higher without using a single medkit. These achievements will take you roughly 2-3 hours to unlock, and with them done, we move on to the next DLC chapter, Sam’s Story.
Sam’s Story is much larger in scope than the two colonies, gives us another open-world area to explore, and adds eight more achievements for us to unlock. Technically, only one achievement here, titled “The Last Hero,” will unlock naturally for beating the Story; the rest are all missable. There’s a new enemy added here called the Batwing (a giant mutated bat) that will hunt you down throughout the campaign, and you’ll fight him three times. Beat the game on normal or higher without dying in those three fights, and you’ll unlock “Untouchable” for completing all three batwing encounters on normal or higher without dying. You’ll meet a captain at the beginning of the expansion, and there are two achievements tied to him. “Trapper” asks you to set all five traps (this is what he asks of you) once you leave the captain’s safehouse, and “A Man of Principle” to complete the expansion after earning the captain’s full trust. Be nice to him and do as he asks, and this achievement will be yours. “Cinephile” will unlock for screening a documentary and is missable but really easy once you know the location of where to unlock this. Finally, the last three are collectible-based and are as follows: “Music Lover” for collecting all harmonic melodies. “Great Owl” for finding all Night Hunter stashes, and lastly, “Lord of War” for collecting all upgrades for Sammy’s Rifle and the Stallion Pistol. With all of that done, you have successfully unlocked every achievement in Sam’s Story, and this will take you anywhere between 6 and 8 hours. Congratulations! You have 100% completed “Metro Exodus.”
Final Thoughts
This game is fantastic in every way imaginable, and developer 4A Games did such a fantastic job in bringing this world to life that I strongly recommend everyone to not only play this game but complete it fully. You’ll have a blast throughout, and none of the achievements here are too difficult or ask too much of you. It’s a simple, straightforward, and incredible single-player story with stunning visuals, solid gameplay, and a story that you won’t forget for years to come. I love this game and this franchise as a whole, and I can’t wait to see what they do with the next game, but when it comes to “Metro Exodus,” you should definitely 100% complete it.
The score below is not for the game itself but for its completion and is a mixture of difficulty, skill, and time consumption.
3/10
50-60 hours.
See more: ‘Metro Exodus’ Review: Should You Buy It In 2022 Or Not?
